we're we're seeing the raw power of hurricane michael. just within the past hour or so, we have seen the winds intensify significantly. as you can see behind me, water is behind me. >> we thought this mattress in front of the window. you know, we want to be on the air, but we've got to take care of each other. michael is the strongest hurricane to strike the florida panhandle on record. this morning people are facing massive destruction and widespread destruction. and did president trump just deliver another insulting blow to attorney general jeff sessions? right now asian stocks are

crumbling in the wake of the dow jones. 800 drop with tech stocks dropping, but that's not all. but good news ahead as mega millions and power jackpot are combined millions. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip me na. >> and i'm marlie hall. florida braces for impact. though downgraded from a hurricane, michael is still bringing damaging winds, local flooding, and widespread tornado risks to a region still reeling from the last storm. an 11-year-old child has died, however, the exact circumstances are not yet known. michael has already drenched some parts of the state with nearly 6 inches of rain so far, and nearly 700,000 people throughout georgia, florida, and alabama, are still without

power. >> up and down the east coast, more than 60 million people are under flash flood watches from georgia up to new england. as the storm travels north. governor rick scott says the mission will now be on search, rescue and recovery. >> we'll be sending help from air, land, and sea. >> nbc's kristen dahlgren is in south carolina with the very latest. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you, phillip and marlie. yeah, michael still has quite a bite here this morning. you can see the high winds as i hold onto my hat here. at times it is actually moving me around. still powerful winds. a triple threat as we go through the morning. we've got these winds that can definitely take down trees and tree limbs so we could see more power outages. already hundreds of thousands of people without power throughout the southeast here, and then we've got tornadoes.

there have been tornado warnings here all night long. they continue to go through the morning here, the threat of tornados. and then there's the rain that's coming in bands. rietz now it's dry here, but we have seen some rain. some places could get another 8 inches or so of rain here today, so these are areas as you mention. the ground already saturated after hurricane florence, so we could see some dangerous, potentially deadly flash flooding. this is going to continue to affect millions of people as michael moves through the carolinas today through virginia and then finally exits off the coast sometime overnight tonight. still a lot of problems ahead for this storm, guys? >> kristen dahlgren holding her ground there. thank you. meteorologist bonnie snyder is here. the biggest concern is flooding. >> the storm coming onshore brings about a lot of friction

when that happens. that's where there's still a risk for tornados in south carolina this morning. in atlanta there have been thunderstorms throughout the night. tropical storm michael, once a hurricane, very powerful and static. the pink is where we have a tornado watch that continues through the afternoon, and the winds right now at 60 miles an hour. but this storm is on the move as even a tropical storm. it's going to be a rainmaker through raleigh, charlotte, and up to northern virginia and the try statds area where we'll expect heavy downpours. for that reason we're looking at a flood watch from boston, philly, and down through raleigh. 60 million at risk for flooding today. the flood tletd will continue throughout the afternoon and the heaviest rain should be along the coast rather than further inland. unfortunately the location of these winds right where we had florence, and that's going to be a problem, because, phillip and

marlie, many areas are compromised to have wind come through. >> that's important to keep in mind. bonnie. thank you. as bonnie mentioned, michael is moving north but florida is looking at the destruction. powerful winds taking out windows and knocking down trees. more than 23,000 homes have lost power and governor rick spot has promised on twitter to be aggressive with a response in the coming days. we go to wendy woolfolk in tallahassee. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we've seen massive power outages and it's likely to gets worse as michael moves north. this is going to go down as the most pow eful hurricane to hit the panhandle in history. a catastrophic storm surge that pounded the coast. destructive winds up to 155

miles per hour though ripped off roofs and tore down power lines, and flooding that literally left neighborhoods and towns under feet of water. the storm has already claimed at least one life, and florida's governor is promising to focus now on the search, the rescue, and recovery here. fortunately or unfortunately there's going to be a lot more to see once the sun comes up. that's the latest here in tallahassee. i'm wendy woolfolk. now back to you. >> all right, wendy. thank you. as michael carves a path across the southeast, we're getting our first look at the utterly catastrophic trail this storm left. it shredded buildings, even ripping the side off a bank. michael made landfall as a category 4 storm. nbc's lester holt and his crew

were directly in the path of the storm and had to hunker down and ride it out in their hotel. >> reporter: within minutes, conditions deteriorated right outside my window. the power is now out. we were outside for a little bit. we were forced inside. hurricane michael proving to be everything it was advertised to be. joining my colleagues in another room with a balcony, we went live on air, an unobstructive and frightening view of michael at its most ferocious. as i have my hand on the window, i can feel it boeing. 100-plus-mile-per-hour winds like a plane taking off. fellow guests hunkering down in hallways. as conditions worsened and in consideration of safety, we

barricaded ourselves in our room. >> we put this mattress in front of our window. we want to be on air, but we have to take care of each other. know that we're safe, but we have to sign off. finally the worse of the storm visit blib passing us. it's much betzer. as the radar indicates, we seem to be on the backside of this thing. surveying from our covered overlook we could see damage everywhere and one floor above in my producer's room the window shattered. >> it's important to show those images, just how powerful it can be and dangerous it can be. bonnie, what's the latest? >> we're looking at heavy rain from tropical storm michael. it came in as a record-breaking hurricane in the panhandle. right now the wind has picked up 20 miles an hour. it's on the move. its going to bring in rain. we have a risk of flooding from

boston down you can see some 40es back off to the west. hurricane michael, a big wind threat across much of the carolinas. again, this region hit hard by hurricane florence. strong winds not what they need. >> thank you so much. it's the 30th anniversary of the national coming out day. people will be celebrated as publicly identifying themselves as the lgbtq community and fighting for equality. a twa aircraft is traveling from maine to new york. the aircraft will serve as a cocktail lounge outside of the twa hotel. it's set to bring magic back to

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♪ lean on me. yesterday was the worst day on wall street since february. and today it's hitting asian markets hard. the dow plunged more than 800 points, and the s&p plummeting over 3% as tech stocks dropped amid growing trade tensions with china and worries over rapidly rising interest rates. last night on fox, president trump denied that his trade war with china was to blame. >> the problem in my opinion is treasuries and the fed. the fed is going loco, and there's no reason for them to do it. and i'm not happy about it. >> this morning we're getting yet another signal that president trump is ready to replace his attorney general. according to a new report from "the washington post," the president spoke with jeff sessions' own chief of staff about taking over that role. here's what the commander in

chief told fox news when he was asked if sessions is on his way out. >> we're going to see what happens. let's all see. we'll see what happens with some other positions. but i will say we have a great cabinet. i think we have one of the best cabinets ever. >> according to the post, it was unclear if the president offered the job to sessions' top interi more permanent. in an interview last month, the president said, quote, i don't have an attorney general. this morning, the operator of the limousine company whose vehicle was involved in the fatal crash that killed 20 saturday faces charges of criminally negligent homicide. nauman hussain was arrested yesterday during a traffic stop and has pled not guilty. this crash is the deadliest transportation crash in the u.s. since 2009. here's nbc's tom costello with the latest. >> reporter: days after that horrific crash, state police arrested the man who they say

runs the limo company. 28-year-old nauman hussain. >> the sole responsibility for that motor vehicle being on the road on saturday rests with nauman hussain. >> reporter: police say hussain had received written notices that driver scott lisnicchia did not have the license to drive the limo, which had been ordered off the road following multiple safety violations. hussain's attorney says the state bears responsibility for an unsafe intersection. >> this road was a problem. it was a known problem to the state of new york. >> reporter: the limo company is owned by nauman hussain's father, shahed, who is in pakistan. the families of the 20 people who died are now preparing for funerals. among them, michael ukai's parents? >> he was my baby. he was my heart. he was everything to me, and now he's gone. >> reporter: tom costello, nbc news. still ahead, why colin kaepernick is heading to

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fast forwarding into thursday, former nfl quarterback colin kaepernick is among eight people being honored by harvard university with the medal for their contributions to black

history and culture. comedian dave chappelle is also among the recipients. harvey weinstein is due in a courtroom as his lawyers are trying to get charges thrown out. the charges include two counts of rape. weinstein has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. later on today, michelle obama is live on set along with kelly clarkson and meghan trainor to celebrate the international day of the girl. president trump is demanding answers about the missing saudi journalist who was last seen entering the country's consulate in istanbul. officials have told nbc news they believe jamal khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate. while president trump has vowed to get to the bottom of his disappearance, he's not yet ready to commit to ending arms sales to saudi arabia as some lawmakers have called for. here's what he had to say about that proposal to fox news in a late interview. >> frankly, i think that would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country.

i mean you're affecting us, and they're always quick to jump in that way. i'd have to find out really before i discussed this, i'd have to find out what happened. >> meanwhile, there are new images of the alleged hit squad purportedly sent after jamal. nbc's foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has the latest. >> reporter: new images on turkish television released by authorities there showing an alleged 15-man saudi hit team arriving in istanbul on two private planes, then leaving their hotels. their suspected target, a saudi dissident, "washington post" writer jamal khashoggi, last seen entering the saudi consulate in istanbul the same day. some turkish officials tell nbc news they believe he was killed inside. the white house demanding answers from the saudi rulers after an emotional appeal from his fiancee. >> we're in contact with her now, and we want to bring her to the white house. it's a very sad situation. it's a very bad situation, and we want to get to the bottom of

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after trump's u.n. ambassador nikki haley resigned, cnn aired a graphic of all the officials who have left his administration. take a look at this. yeah. it looks like the yearbook for the whitest high school ever. >> i don't think anybody ever accused the trump administration of being big on diversity. you hire a lot of employees that look the same, you're going to have a lot of ex-employees that look the same. >> an interesting group of alumni for sure. hey, bonnie. >> we are still tracking michael coming in as an incredible hurricane, one for the record books. even though it's now a tropical storm, check out the fact this was the first category 4 ever to hit the florida panhandle, and one of the strongest on record. when we measure hurricane strength, it has to do with the

barometric pressure. currently heavy rain for atlanta with this tropical storm. those downpours have really been continuing throughout the overnight. look at the risk for heavy rain including five, six inches into the carolinas and that flood threat will extend all the way to the northeast including philadelphia, boston, and new york all under flood watches through the afternoon hours. strong winds right now along the coast. that's where we're getting some of the stronger areas of wind from the georgia coast through the carolinas. and what's important to note is right here through hatteras, down through charleston, areas impacted by hurricane florence not too long ago getting that wind and rain today. really the last thing that they need unfortunately as we watch this tropical storm zip to the northeast. it's still going to be a rain and wind maker for today and tonight. >> thanks for keeping an eye on that for us. just ahead, we will go live to hilton head island has michael makes a beeline for the carolinas. you're watching "early today." t whiter, brighter teeth. and the dentist really has to say let's take a step back

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tropical storm michael is now soaking parts of georgia as it continues to move north toward south carolina. albany, georgia, has already received nearly three inches of rain and nearly 340,000 people are without power in the state. >> nearly 4.5 million are under tornado watches from georgia to the carolinas as strong winds continue to whip the region. nbc's kristen dahlgren is in south carolina where the storm is headed next. kristen, good morning. you can see the winds are starting to pick up there. >> reporter: yeah. good morning, phillip. you've been looking at that radar. we're pretty far away from where the center of circulation is, and this is the wind that we're seeing. so that gives you some idea of

just how widespread the storm and its impacts are as we go through the morning today. so tropical storm force winds, you know, nothing to sneeze at here. over 39 miles an hour, that's the sustained wind, and gusts upwards of 50, 60, you know, even higher in some places. so that's strong enough to take down some trees, some tree limbs, to move around pool furniture, anything that wasn't tied down. so we could continue to see more of those power outages as we go through the morning. right now we're in a dry spot, but the rain is expected to be heavy today. so some places could see another eight inches or so of rain. keep in mind as you go through the carolinas that these are areas that were hit just a few weeks ago by hurricane florence. so that's a saturated ground. we saw the terrible flooding with florence. some areas finally beginning to dry out, and then they've got this. so that ground can't absorb any more water and that's where we

could see the devastating flash flooding. so that's a threat as well. then you mentioned those tornadoes. i know my phone was going off through the night with those tornado warnings. and so that could be a big problem for people as we go through the day. so michael just really continues to be a triple threat, you know, far away from where it made landfall as it moves through georgia and the carolinas and then finally exits off virginia sometime later on tonight and into tomorrow morning, guys. >> kristen, i know it's not over yet. how are officials planning to deal with all that water that's coming? >> reporter: yeah, you know, it's a good question. so a lot of the task force teams, the search and rescue teams now have swift water rescue boats. and i was talking to one contact i have, and he said they've moved those already into place around the region, ready to do those swift water rescues for anyone who may not have moved out of their home, evacuated, and may now be stuck as the

rains come through. and so that's something that they're looking at. they are ready to go in as soon as the need is there. >> all right. kristen, thank you so much. stay safe. thank you for joining us here on

ad lib live picture at san mateo bridge. good morning and thank you for joining us. i )m laura garcia. and i )m marcus washington. toss to weather. welcome back and happy starting with a slow stretch of the nimitz... we'll get a look